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A Description of the Birds inhabiting the South of 

 Africa. By Andrew Smith, M.D. Member of the 

 Wernerian Natural History Society of Edinburgh; 

 Honorary Member of the Mineralogical Society of Jena; 

 and Corresponding Member of the Zoological and Hor- 

 ticultural Societies of London. 



For the botanist, South Africa has long formed a favorite 

 retreat, and has been one of the sources from whence he has 

 for years past been accustomed to gather many of the finest 

 and rarest productions of the vegetable kingdom. Fashion, 

 together with such decided liberality towards that the least 

 offensive of nature's departments, have tended hitherto to main- 

 tain the superiority so much in favor thereof, that the riches 

 of the other kingdoms have, in a great measure, been over- 

 looked. Indeed, were it not for the writings of the indefati- 

 gable and accurate Le Vaillant, the world would scarcely have 

 yet the means of ascertaining whether life existed there in 

 any other form than that in which it occurs in plants. The 

 revolutions which have lately taken place in the scientific 

 world, or, at least, in a part thereof, give us reason now to 

 hope that inquiry -will be more divided and equalized, and that 

 every branch will receive that degree of consideration which 

 their common origin equally demands from those who are am- 

 bitious of understanding the general scheme of creation. 



The naturalist who selects Southern Africa for the site of 

 his exertions, can scarcely err in the choice of a department, 

 as all are prolific in the extreme, and it is only by the observer 

 who is unacquainted with the characters of diversities, that 

 any thing like limitation or deficiency can be experienced. The 

 native quadrupeds already known amount to a very considei'a- 

 ble number, but are yet imperfectly described, particu- 

 larly the smaller species. Of such also there is* scarcely 

 a part of the country that does not still contain nondescripts, 

 and we have only to observe where vegetable or animal pro- 

 ductions occur of a description different to those we have 

 found constituting the food of species already known, to ena- 

 ble us to extend discovery. Solitary changes appear incon- 

 sistent with the design of nature, so that whenever a novelty 

 is discovered it follows almost as a matter of course, that 

 others exist upon which the one or the other depends. Thus 

 a change in the character of vegetation is generally attended 

 with a change in the insect tribes, and a change of those 

 again witli a corresponding one in the smaller quadrupeds >< 

 birds 



